


Connecting the dots

by Spidermansalterego



Category: Dead Poets Society (1989)
Genre: M/M, POV Outsider, Rumors, everyone knows but todd
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-12
Updated: 2019-01-12
Packaged: 2019-10-08 14:45:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,762
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17388326
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spidermansalterego/pseuds/Spidermansalterego
Summary: Cameron thinks Neil and Todd are gay but Charlie is determined to prove him wrong.





	Connecting the dots

Cameron swings the door open and slams it shuts behind him so quickly that Charlie only hears it happen.He leans against the door as though he's trying to keep it shut. He breathes heavily, and the stress is obvious from both the look on his face as well as the heaviness of his breathing. Charlie knew instantly that something was definitely _off_.

And not just the normal amounts of Cameron nonsense either. This had to be serious.

Charlie was curious, annoyed and amused all at once. Cameron's stressed out antics were nothing out of the ordinary but the cause of them was often boring and not worth Charlie's time. Though seeing Cameron in distress gave him a morbid sort of happiness, and Charlie had a tendency to make his outbursts escalate. He sighed dramatically and gave into his curiosity. 

“Hey, Cameron, is something up? You look like you’ve just seen a ghost or a photo of your future wife”

“Not now, Dalton. This is serious”

“What is?” Charlie rolled his eyes and sat back on his desk chair, his hands behind his head and his feet propped up on the textbooks he should be reading.

“Well” he pauses, his eyes wide and nervous. Charlie was beginning to wonder if this was a serious issue and not just a bad grade. 

“Spaz just told me something. A rumor, about Neil.”

Charlie groaned, peeved that he wasted his interest on something as insignificant as a rumor. Welton was small, and even if it wasn't, Neil stood out. Rumors about him were always circulating and they were almost never true. The ones that were true, Charlie always knew before they'd become rumors anyway. 

Charlie puts as much sarcasm behind his words as he can muster. “Really? You heard a rumor? about Neil? No wonder you’re so worked up, that never ever happens" 

“This one was serious, Charlie. Apparently a lot of people are talking about it. They’re saying Neil and … Todd are” he looks around for a second, as if someone’s listening and is going to punish him for even uttering the word. “They’re saying that they’re homosexuals. That they're going all the way.” He speaks quickly and quietly. 

Charlie couldn't contain his laughter if he'd tried. “Get with it, Cameron, that rumors been around for ages, probably since Todd got here."

“But what if it’s true, Charlie?”

“It’s not.” He laughs “people always get bored and make stuff up, especially when it comes to Neil. Last year someone told me he joined a traveling carnival for the Summer.Plus, Neil is my best friend, don't you think I'd know if he was a fairy?”

Cameron visibly relaxed, finally moving from his spot against the door and sitting on his bed. "So, you don't think that it's true?"

"No, Cameron, I think you're flipping your lid over nothing."  

xXx

"It's true!" Cameron bellowed as he burst through the door to their shared room, nearly taking it off its hinges as it hit the far wall and slammed itself closed.

Charlie was beginning to consider the merits of begging for a single room. They were only for special cases but he could plead insanity. whether he'd plead his own or Cameron's he wasn't sure of yet. Despite the fact that Charlie had merely raised an eyebrow in response to his roomate's outburst he continued nontheless

"The rumors, Dalton, They are all true!"

"So what you're saying is that Neil joined the circus over Summer break? That makes sense actually."

“Can it, Charlie! You know which rumors I’m speaking of” He checked the door and keeled beside the bed Charlie was spread out on. He spoke in a whisper that Charlie found both unnecessary and unnerving. "Neil and Todd. They're queer."

"They're queer?" He asked, smirking.

"Yes."

"Neil and Todd"

"Yes!" 

"Are queer?"

"Jesus, could you just take me seriously for  _once"_ He huffed, "I have proof this time. I saw". He shook his head, like he was trying to shake an image from it

"You saw? What did you see?" Charlie still didn't believe him whatsoever but indulging in Cameron's bizarre fantasy was one of the only things to do a Wednesday night, right before lights out.

“I saw them" He looked behind him and then back at charlie before finishing his sentence. "hugging”

Charlie was both annoyed and amused and let out a noise that reflected it. A mix between a laugh and a scoff. "You saw them  _hugging._ Oh no, better call the doctor, we've got a case of homosexuality on our hands. Are you such an odd ball that you've never hugged someone?"

"Not a  _man._ What kind of a man hugs another man?" He huffed "Besides, it was a long hug."

Charlie stood up, nearly knocking Cameron over as he did. He crosses his arms, trying and failing not to look bothered. 

"How long did you watch for? Actually, don't tell me that. Were you trying to catch some action?" Charlie was grinning now, amused by Cameron's idiocy. "What exactly is the length of time it takes before a hug becomes gay?" 

"I don't-" 

Charlie laughed and wrapped his arms around an unwilling Cameron's back. Cameron kept his arms pressed firmly to his side and struggled while Charlie laughed 

"Is it gay yet? Have we reached a homosexual hug now?" Charlie howled while Cameron protested "Does this make you a queer now too?"

"knock it  **off,**  Dalton". He said, breaking free and shoving Charlie away. He took a few steps back. "I think it's true, Charlie. I think our friends might be gay. They're too close."

"They're roommates, they tend to be close when one of them isn't insufferable".

Cameron ignored the jab and lowered his tone. "I'm serious, Dalton. I'm concerned for them. It was a very queer hug, okay? I think we need to get them some help before this escalates. I could tell Nolan and we co-"

Charlie's amusement instantly changed to gut-wrenching anger. He shoved Cameron to cut him off and all but growled the words "You fucking flake. I don't even believe you, why do you think Nolan would?" He sneered "Besides, you'd just sing to Nolan over a hug? Just like that, you would sell out your friends. Do you know what would happen Cameron? Do you?" 

Cameron was shaken; his eyes wide and fearful. He wasn't sure if it was a question he was supposed to answer, but he had a suspicion it was in his best interest to keep quiet.

"They'd be flogged, at least. AND expelled."

"But if it's true-"

"If it's true we do nothing but ignore it. I don't care if you see Todd's bare ass bent over a cafeteria table, you rap to Nolon and I will seriously pound you, Cameron."

Cameron nodded, too afraid to speak. Charlie wished he had somewhere to go to cool off, but he didn't. Instead, he turned the light off and crawled into bed, leaving a distraught Cameron frozen in the darkness. 

xXx

It wasn't that he believed Cameron, per say. But now that'd it been said he couldn't help but pay closer attention to his friends. Charlie had known they were close but hadn't really realized how close until he started to look closely. 

He didn't want to jump to conclusions. Neil and him had been friends for years and he was pretty sure it would have come up that he liked men, at some point. Plus Neil had always been affectionate. He was always throwing his arm around charlies shoulder or patting Knox on the back. 

It wasn't until the next meeting that he realized he could see where the rumor might've come from. They'd broken away from the group after the meeting turned into just hanging out in the cave. He ignored Knox's rambling and stared past him to where Neil and Todd were sitting. It wasn't just their physical closeness that made Charlie start to question just how  _close_ they were. No, it was more than that. Todd was talking animatedly, with confidence that Charlie had never seen nor thought him capable of. And Neil? looked enthralled. It looked as though Neil thought Todd's words were the most beautiful and important words to ever be spoken aloud. Charlie felt as though he was intruding, just by looking at them talk. 

He decided he needed a second or third opinion. 

xXx

He started with Knox, who was entirely unhelpful, as expected. 

He cornered him in the library which was relatively empty. He spoke quietly but tried to keep it casual. 

"Have you heard the rumors about Neil and Todd?"

"Which ones?" 

"I don't know." He was annoyed. There wasn't a lot of variation on the Todd and Neil rumor front "The last one you heard I guess"

"Oh, uh" He seemed to give it some serious thought and then said "that they've been stealing office supplies to throw off of the roof." 

"well have you heard any others?" Charlie snapped, wishing he would be less of a nosebleed about this. 

"I mean, I've heard a lot, Charlie. People are always talking about Neil."

He sighed, and decided to go for the more straight forward approach. "The gay ones, Knox. Have you heard the gay rumors about Neil and Todd?"

"Oh those ones?" He nodded "well yeah, hasn't everyone? There's so many of them."

"well do you believe them?"

Knox shrugged. "I don't know. I never really thought about it. Why, do you believe them?" 

"No. But Cameron's been flipping his lid over it and I'm trying to get him to stop bugging me."

"Just tell him Neil's golden; there's no way he's a fairy."

"He won't listen to reason."

Knox shrugs "Just let him think they're queer then and ignore him" 

Charlie groaned and walked away. 

xXx

Next was Meeks, who he found smoking on the roof, with random wires strewn around him. 

"Where's Pitts?" 

"Doing his math assignment. I finished mine on Tuesday."

Charlie laughed "I didn't know we had one" 

Meeks smiled fondly and shook his head. They smoked in silence for a moment and then without meaning to he blurted out

"So, you know those rumors about Neil and Todd?"

"You mean all the gay ones?" Meeks asked, nonchalantly.

"Yeah" He said "those ones" 

"What about them?" 

"You think any of them are true?"

"I think." Meeks took a long drag, and let the smoke curl out slowly like he was taking his time to think of a response and was trying to buy himself some time. "I think that Neil and Todd's business is Neil and Todd's business." 

Charlie threw his head back, groaning dramatically. "That didn't answer my question."

"Okay."

"I'm going to find Pitts," Charlie said while stomping away.

Meeks smiled to himself and yelled back "Okay".  

xXx

Charlie had it with the formalities so when he found Pitts in his room he asked point blank "Do you think Neil and Todd are doing it?"

He shrugged "Why don't you ask them." 

xXx

He decided to ask Todd first. 

He stopped him outside of Keating's class to ask him to talk. He figured it was the best time because he was still happy; buzzing with words and less likely to get angry with Charlie for dragging him all the way to the docks just to ask him a question. 

"Is t-this about class or-" 

"Are you and Neil together" 

"What?" He looked genuinely confused by the question. 

"I heard a rumor and I thought maybe it might be true" 

"W-w- wha. what was the-the rumor?" He asked. His anxiety was obvious as he picked at his nails and looked anywhere but Charlie's face. It was hard to tell if he was nervous because of the question or if it was just in his nature. 

"There was" Charlie paused. This might have not of been a good idea after all. But Todd was looking up at him now, with sad Bambi eyes, waiting for him to finish his sentence. Charlie sighed. "There's a lot of rumors, Todd. About you and Neil."

Todd stared at him. 

"About the two of you" He pauses, runs his fingers through his hair. "doing gay things."

"How many people have heard it?" He spoke frantically, his stutter replaced by an anxious shake. "Do they believe it?" 

"No one really believes it, but everyone kind of jokes about it."

"Everyone?!" 

"No, no not. Not everyone. Just some."

"how many is some?" He was panicked now. Charlie was starting to realize that maybe telling his anxious friend that people were talking about him might not have been a good idea and that gauging Todd's feelings and sexuality while he was on the cusp of a break down would be rather difficult. Charlie wasn't sure what to do; whether Todd liked company in this state or liked to be alone. 

"Just, some." Charlie tried to play it cool but the more Todd began to panic the more Charlie's own nerves set in. "Don't let it rattle your cage, I'm sure it's nothing." 

Todd didn't say anything. 

"ok bye Todd." Charlie said as though it was all one word, and ran off. 

xXx

In the end, he didn't need to find Neil because Neil found him first, in the hallway near Charlie's room. 

"Oh hey, Neil, there was-"

His sentence was cut off from Neil grabbing hold of Charlie's shirt and pulling him into his own room. Luckily, Cameron wasn't in it. Neil stood against the door since they couldn't be locked. 

"What did you say to Todd?" He seethed as he spoke, a venom in his voice Charlie had never heard.

"What do you mean?"

"I  _mean"_ He spoke dramatically "That Todd is hiding in our room and when I asked him why he looked like he'd seen the devil he told me it was something  _you_ said."

Charlie was pretty sure Neil was trying to be intimidating. If things weren't so heavy, he would probably be laughing. He bit his lip to stop the smile and decided that confronting Neil should've been what he did first. Neil was his best friend, he told him everything. There was no way he was dating Todd or even into men without having told him. 

"People think you're gay."

"I-" Neil's angry act faded to confusion. "What?"

"More specifically, people think you're gay for Todd." 

The heat rose in Neil's face, and Charlie watched as he turned pink. 

"That's just." His voice was higher than usual. "Preposterous. Really just a big tickle."

For all his acting prowess, Neil was a shit liar. 

"Are you and Todd together" 

"No, Charlie, we're not." The look in his eyes made Charlie's heartache. He didn't doubt that he was telling the truth now. 

"Do you want to be with him? He asked instead.

"No!" He answered a little too quickly. His voice cracked when he spoke again. "I'm not some queer, Charlie."

"Don't sweat it, Neil." He sighed. "I'm your best friend. I wouldn't judge you if you were. Lay it on me."

When Neil says nothing Charlie asks him "Are you keen on Todd?"

Neil looks like he might cry, actual tears welling up in his eyes. Charlie freezes.

"Charlie, I'm real gone." Charlie ran his hands through his hair trying to process the fact that the suspicions were true, that Neil Perry was gay. When he took a moment to respond, Neil's eyes spilled over. A broken "please don't hate me" falling from his lips

"Oh, Neil," Charlie said, pulling him into a decidedly heterosexual hug. "I could never hate you." 

Neil pulled away from the hug and looked at him through damp lashes "Everyone knows I'm carrying a torch for Todd. My life is totaled."

"That's not true, Neil".

"It's illegal to be with the person I love and even if it wasn't he doesn't want me anyway."

"That's probably only half true."

Neil sniffled. "How do you know?"

"Don't be vacant, Neil. He's different around you." 

Neil shook his head. "I have to split"

"Neil" 

"Later"

xXx

Charlie spent the night feeling like an asshole, so he knew the first thing he had to do when he got up was apologize to both Neil and Todd. He burst through the door, apologizes ready to fall from his mouth, but instead, he's stopped dead in his tracks. Neil and Todd were curled together on one bed. Todd's head tucked beneath Neil's, their hands intertwined. Charlie smiled and closed the door behind him carefully. He could apologize later.

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't watched this film in ages but hopefully its in character and that the 50s slang is decent. Also, as usual this is unedited, so any mistakes you notice, lemme know! :)


End file.
